Shaping the Future of the Newspaper - World Association of ...

JUNE 2005 SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Chart 1.2: TV availability and choice on the rise
45
42
42.6
40
35
30
25
Cable
Satellite
Digital
Total
20.9
23.7
27.4
29.5
31.1
36.1
20
15
10
5.8
9.3
13.2
15.3
17.7
5
0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Source – DDS/BARB
channel schedules. A clear advantage for a
new active generation.
Most controversially, the technology allows
viewers to fast forward and therefore
potentially avoid traditional TV advertising.
So far, uptake has been slow, but many
industry sources expect this to change over
the next two years. For example, currently in
the UK only 250,000 homes in the UK own a
PVR, representing less than 1 per cent of all
households. However, this is expected to rise
to about 20 per cent of all homes by the end
of 2005.
So what are the implications? PVRs will
force advertisers to re-think their approach.
It is no longer (nor has it been for some
time) just about spots – sponsorship of whole
programmes will become more common.
Alternative ways of advertising will develop
– from product placement, advertiser funded
content and channels and more interactive
advertising (to encourage viewers to “opt
in”).
Television channel choice continues to
increase, in Europe, we now have an average
of 42 channels to choose from, an increase
of nearly tenfold in 10 years! Clearly this
creates more opportunities to invest and
more relevant, targeted environments for
advertisers, but also massive fragmentation of
audiences.
Despite a tenfold increase in channel choice,
we are actually viewing less: about 10 per
cent less than we did 10 years ago. For kids,
they’re actually watching 20 per cent less.
People are re-distributing their time and
changing their habits.
And, if there wasn’t enough changes to our
media world, we’re experiencing major shifts
in the patterns of consumer behaviour and
their attitude to advertisers.
They are increasingly avoiding ads.
Technological empowerment has allowed
them to choose to avoid, if it is not relevant
for them at the right time, they will switch
off. They are cynical and anti-corporatist;
the Enron antics have made them even
more sceptical. They are totally overloaded
with information, so they are becoming
increasingly selective of what information
they choose to receive. The plethora of
choice is changing their behaviour – they
have excess choice of media, information
and brands which is impacting on their own
personal networks as they become more
tribal, and transform from one consumer
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